Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Railway police along with local police today arrested the leaders of Joint Action Committee (JAC) for detaining three Express trains at Vijayawada Railway Station for more than one hour.

The JAC comprising students and political leaders of 13 districts of Andhra and Rayalaseema Regions had given a call for ''Rail Roko'' on Saturday last to exert pressure on the Centre for United Andhra Pradesh, coinciding with the eight-party meeting convened by Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram on the Telangana issue in New Delhi today.

Later, the police forcibly vacated the JAC leaders from the tracks and shifted them to Railway Stadium, creating a mild tension for some time. However, they were released later. Due to 'Rail Roko' the occupancy ratio (OC) was very poor with only 12 per cent recorded,railway sources said.

The agitators also halted Vijayawada-Narsapur and Narsapur-Vijayawada Passenger at Mandavali and Kaikaluru Railway stations in Krishna district. The Yeswanthapur and Simadhri Express trains were also detained by the agitators at Nuzvid railway station, reports said. The Gudivada-Vijayawada Passenger was also stopped by the agitators at Gudivada railway station in support of the unified State.

As many as 88 passenger trains including MMTS trains were suspended by the South Central Railway (SCR) last night in view of the 'Rail Roko' in Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana regions. At Jaggayyapet in this district, the agitators obstructed the vehicular traffic at Garikipadu check post resulting the vehicles bound to Hyderabad coming to a grinding halt.

Telangana protesters arrested.

Breaching prohibitory orders outside Home Ministry, a large number of pro and anti-Telangana protesters gathered and raised slogans as a crucial meeting on the separate state was in progress here today.

The North Block area, where any gathering is prohibited under section 144 of CrPC, became the hub of activity as protesters caught the security forces off-guard. Supporters belonging to both the groups assembled suddenly and started raising slogans, displaying placards.

However, the situation was brought under control as authorities rushed in more force to defuse the situation and arrested all of them.

Train to Andhra? Please carry extra food

Carry lots of food and water if you are taking a train passing through Andhra Pradesh. This is what authorities are saying in view of the unending rail blockades in the state. Transport services across Andhra Pradesh have again been hit as supporters and opponents of a separate Telangana state stopped trains and buses.

Dozens of trains have been halted in Kadapa, Guntur and Krishna districts. These include the Kerala Express and the Macherla Express. Rail blockades have been reported from many railway stations, causing inconvenience to passengers whose stocks of food and water are running out.

In Warangal district, protesters Tuesday stopped the Gorakhpur Express. Three passenger and three express trains were detained at Vikarabad in Ranga Reddy district near here.

The South Central Railway has cancelled 89 trains, including 63 MMTS (multi-modal transport system) and local trains in Hyderabad.

Telangana protests hit rail, road transport in Andhra Pradesh

Transport services across Andhra Pradesh were hit on Tuesday as supporters and opponents of a separate Telangana state stopped trains and buses even as an all-party meeting on the Telangana issue took place in New Delhi.

Railway authorities cancelled 89 trains as a precaution while state-owned Road Transport Corp (RTC) partially suspended bus services. The rail and road blockade in Telangana on one side and the rail blockade in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema on the other coincides with the meeting in the national capital.

Police arrested a large number of protesters, including leaders of political parties and student groups resorting to transport blockades in the three regions. Dozens of trains were stopped by anti-Telangana protesters in Kadapa district of Rayalaseema and in Guntur and Krishna districts of coastal Andhra.